1. Field
One embodiment of the invention relates to a playback apparatus, which can switch execution/non-execution of super-resolution conversion, and to a method of controlling a playback apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, a high-definition (HD) television with a full specification featuring a resolution of 1920×1080 pixels has come into wide use. However, the availability of full HD specification content is limited. For this reason, high pixel conversion is performed with respect to conventional DVD content having Secure Digital (SD) quality. In this way, the user sees a television broadcast using the full HD specification television.
The following document discloses a notebook personal computer, which converts using a super-resolution technique as high-pixel conversion.
Document: “Akira KUMAGAI et al., “Super-resolution Technique Realizing High-quality Video”, Toshiba Review, Toshiba Inc., Nov. 1, 2008, Vol. 63, No. 11, pp. 50-53”
Some methods are given as the method of high-pixel conversion. For example, there exist a bi-cubic (convolution) method and a bi-linear (interpolation) method. According to a bi-cubic method using a super-resolution technique, the load on a processor is higher than the bi-linear method.
At present, it is difficult to execute the bi-cubic method in real time using a personal computer. Considering the foregoing circumstances, the following proposal has been made. According to the proposal, a high-speed processor executes super-resolution conversion using a bi-cubic method independently from a processor executing an operating system and applications.
For example, an independent high-speed processor is connected to a bridge circuit via a serial bus conforming to the PCI Express standard. According to the PCI Express standard, a bidirectional communication is performed. In the PCI Express standard, a unidirectional effective data transmission rate is about 250 MB/s. On the other hand, a transmission rate required for transmitting full HD quality video data is about 187 MB/s. Therefore, there is not so time to transmit the full HD quality video data according to the PCI Express standard. For this reason, preferably, data supplied to the independent processor is reduced as much as possible.
Whether the user likes an image after super-resolution conversion greatly depends on his taste. For this reason, the user has demands for dynamically changing execution/non-execution of super-resolution while playback a moving image.